Cardinal Hollerich: The synod on synodality will not produce immediate changes

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, general rapporteur of the Synod of Synodality, affirms that the Catholic Church will not experience immediate changes after its celebration because the Holy Spirit needs to convert hearts and “we resist.”

In statements collected by Vatican Newsthe cardinal pointed out that Catholics after the celebration of the two sessions of the synod assembly and the previous processes that began in 2021, “probably will not see an immediate change, because changes need time and the Holy Spirit needs time because it has to convert our hearts. This usually takes time because we resist.”

The cardinal trusted that the faithful “in time will see a Church in which they count, in which they are important, in which their talents, their gifts, their life experience, are important because they belong to the baptized people.”

“They belong to the holy People of God and, with the Catechism and Confirmation, they have received a mission. And we carry out this mission together as a Church, local community, small community, parish, diocese and beyond,” he added.

The Synod of Synodality “is a process”

Cardinal Hollerich, who has expressed his wish that “everyone could have the positive experience” that he has had of synodality, also noted that “the novelty of the synod is that it is a process.”

“It began in 2021 and, in fact, the 2023 and 2024 meetings were only the celebration phase of this process. Now, we offer this discernment to the Holy Father, who must continue it, and the Holy Father, in turn, has forwarded it to the entire Church, to the local communities. Thus, the process continues even though this XVI General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops has ended,” he explained.